Ellsbury received a second opinion on his injured right foot, and it confirmed that he has a non-displaced compression fracture of the navicular bone. The outfielder will remain in a walking boot for a minimum of five days, but manager John Farrell said after Sunday’s game in New York that the team is hopeful that Ellsbury will return before the end of the regular season.

“The exam that he went through, the images taken in Denver concur with what’s been found in the exam in Boston and he does have a compression fracture,” Farrell said. “That means it’s non-displaced. But at the same time, we feel like he’ll return this year. He’s in a boot right now, will be for the time being. We feel like he’ll be back to us before this year is out. … We’re hopeful of the regular season.”

Ellsbury suffered the injury when he fouled a ball off his foot during the Red Sox’ game against the Orioles on Aug. 28. He played through the injury, but aggravated it while stealing second base in Thursday’s win over the Yankees. Ellsbury underwent an MRI in Boston on Saturday before flying out to Denver for a second opinion.

Typically, it’s not a good sign when a player seeks a second opinion. And given the fact that Dustin Pedroia (2010) and Cody Ross (2012) each missed a decent chunk of time with an injury to the same bone in recent years, it was reasonable to think that Ellsbury’s season was in jeopardy. Obviously, Ellsbury will need to show progress after ditching the walking boot, but it’s encouraging to hear Farrell say that he expects to see his leadoff man back on the field.

Ellsbury is hitting .299 with eight home runs and 52 RBIs. He leads the majors with 52 stolen bases.